WELFARE RECIPIENTS OF THE WEEK: Big payout from Star Trek's
Welfare Program this week, as Garrett Wang, possibly the worst actor in Star Trek
history, manages to get paid for a performance that is bad even by his standards. He can't
even ham it up competently; his speech about love in Janeway's ready room is downright
painful to watch. Other welfare recipients include the Alien Chick, whose performance was
almost as bad as Wang's, and poor, wooden Charles Rocket, still doing penance after all
these years for that ill-considered obscenity.

LAX SECURITY OF THE WEEK: How could Kim steal a shuttlecraft without
being noticed immediately? How could he even think he could get away with his little
joyride to the nebula? Probably because he knows how inept Starfleet security protocols
and personnel are.

RETROCONTINUITY OF THE WEEK: Well, this "sexual prime
directive" is a new one. It's actually sort of a reasonable idea, but unfortunately
there's never been any evidence in the past that such a regulation exists, and plenty of
apparent violators. Even if you rationalize away all of Kirk's flings, by saying the
regulation is post-Kirk (maybe even because of Kirk), there are plenty of New Trek
examples of Starfleet officers having un-sanctioned interspecies sex, with no mention of
regulations, such as Riker and the female leader in Next Generation's "Angel
One" or Dax and Whatsisname in Deep Space Nine's "Meridian."

VOYAGER CLICHE OF THE WEEK: I think the set is now complete; every
senior officer has now received the patented Janeway "I counted on you and you let me
down" speech.

PREVARICATOR OF THE WEEK: Janeway greases Rocket's character with
crapola about how Voyager's trip could last generations. Hello? Isn't Voyager
only about 30 years from home now? Three years ago, when Voyager was 70 years
away, they would have shown some interest in generational vessels, but now, even without
any more big jumps, they should make it home in one generation.

PREVARICATOR OF THE WEEK RUNNER-UP: Seven's closing speech to Kim
about how she was wrong about love, and how Kim's experience showed her that love can be a
source of strength, is and example of either Seven lying to make Kim feel better
(unlikely, given her personality) or of appallingly stupid writing. Show me where Kim
demonstrated any strength in this episode, and more particularly, where Seven could have
possibly seen any strength in Kim.

CONTRIVANCE OF THE WEEK: So the generational ship is a one-for-all and
all-for-one deal, right? So why does each and every segment of the ship have its own
engines?